Overview

The eighteenth century was a time of great progress in the field of mathematics. Included in this progress were advances in ways of teaching mathematics, including a number of textbooks at all levels of complexity by some of the world's greatest mathematicians. Because of these textbooks, mathematics education became more standardized and more formalized than had previously been the case, especially at introductory levels. This, in turn, helped in the education of still more mathematicians who were able to continue producing further mathematical research of very high quality.

Background

The great majority of students are not likely to consider mathematics textbooks a great boon and, in fact, are more likely inclined to curse the authors than praise them. However, any society that strives towards technical and scientific mastery needs to be able to teach its...